Adult Store Operator May Seek New Location

April 25, 2013

LAKEWOOD - If needed, the proprietor of a proposed adult novelty store will look for a different location.

Jill Laemmerhirt of Jamestown said she will look for another location for her business, Endless Love, if unable to operate from the American Mattress Plaza along Fairmount Avenue in Lakewood.

Earlier this month, Laemmerhirt applied for a special-use permit with the village of Lakewood for the business to be located in the plaza. On April 17, she was heard by the Lakewood Planning Board, who approved the permit application.

However, Charles Smith, Lakewood code enforcement officer and building inspector, said Monday during a Village Board meeting the plaza's owner contacted him to say he would not give Laemmerhirt a lease for the proposed business.

"The issue is off the table," Smith said to the board members.

On Wednesday, Laemmerhirt told The Post-Journal she hasn't been given a definite answer from the plaza's owner about a lease.

''He told me he would get back to me in a couple of weeks. He is out of town,'' she said. "He didn't say 'yes,' but he didn't say 'no.'"

Laemmerhirt said if she is not allowed to lease space in the American Mattress Plaza, located at 305 E. Fairmount Ave., Lakewood, she will continue to look for a location for the business.

"Yes, we will definitely be looking for another space. As of right now, I'm not sure where. We're limited on where we can go," she said. "(I) don't have another place in mind at this time."

During the Planning Board meeting, members asked Laemmerhirt if she considered other locations for the business, including the Dollar General Plaza next to Lakewood Cinema 8. Laemmerhirt said she didn't look into that location because she thought it was too close to the movie theater, which is a popular area for young children.

''I tried to pick a location away from schools, parks and day care centers,'' she said during the Planning Board meeting. ''I didn't want to be too close, but I didn't want to be too far away.''

Laemmerhirt said, despite the naysayers who oppose a sex-related business, she believes enough local residents want a business like Endless Love.

''I mean for one there are a lot of people who go elsewhere to purchase these products,'' she said. ''I feel I can shed a better light on this type of business by making it more secure to prevent people who are underage. I feel I can make a successful business out of it.''

Laemmerhirt said her intention is not to upset people by proposing the adult novelty shop.

''I could have started the business without going through the paperwork, but I thought I'd better go through it, to get permission. I'm not trying to make people mad,'' she said.